W.9- 124 Have Fallen, 4 Still Stand

Up next at SW19...



Venus Williams vs. Johanna Konta
2015 Wuhan QF (HC) - Williams 6-4,3-6,7-5
2016 Australian Open 1st (HC) - Konta 6-4,6-2
2016 Stanford Final (HC) - Konta 7-5,5-7,6-2
2017 Miami SF (HC) - Konta 6-4,7-5
2017 Rome 3rd (RC) - Williams 6-1,3-6,6-1
2017 Wimbledon SF (Gr) - ?

Ok twitter, Who is your favourite to win Wimbledon ladies singles 2017? ??????

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) July 12, 2017

Garbine Muguruza vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
2013 Australian Open 1st (HC) - Muguruza 4-6,6-1,14-12
2013 Paris SF (Carpet) - Rybarikova 3-6,6-1,6-3
2013 Indian Wells 3rd (Hard) - Muguruza 6-4,6-0
2015 Birmingham 1st (Gr) - Rybarikova 6-3,6-1
2017 Wimbledon SF (Gr) - ?

And meanwhile...

Poster in background....

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jul 12, 2017 at 6:01am PDT

=DAY 9 NOTES=
...while there were no women's singles matches played on Wednesday, there was action, as the doubles, mixed and juniors got up to speed.

The last of the women's doubles duos to get a victory today were the #3 seeds, Chan Yung-Jan & Martina Hingis... no, wait, they actually DIDN'T win. After coming back from a set down, and leading 4-1 in the 3rd set, Chan/Hingis failed to win another game against #12-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld & Kveta Peschke, losing 6-4/3-6/6-4. The loss ended the duo's 11-match winning streak, which had included an undefeated grass season run, titles in Mallorca and Eastbourne, as well as in four of their last five events going back to the clay season (the only other event they didn't win in the stretch? The only other slam: Roland Garros.). They're now 33-5 on the season. Chan is still seeking her first career slam title (0-3 WD, 0-1 MX finals), while the loss means that Hingis will have to win the MX crown with Jamie Murray (they're in the QF) to have a shot at tying Venus Williams with a 23rd overall slam title. Well, unless, you know, Venus wins #24.

The 32-year old German Groenefeld has never reached a slam WD final (this will be her seventh semi), but has won two MX crowns. Peschke won the 2011 Wimbledon women's doubles with Katarina Srebotnik, and is a three-time U.S. Open MX finalist. At 42, the Czech is trying to become the oldest women's slam champ since a 49-year old (a month from 50) Martina Navratilova won the U.S. Open MX in 2006, when she and Bob Bryan defeated Martin Damm and... yes, Peschke.

Chan & Hingis had been set to possibly face the other top grass duo of the season in the SW19 semis. But #8-seeded Ash Barty & Casey Dellacqua, winners in Birmingham and runners-up in Eastbourne, went down today, as well, losing to the #2-seeds, Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina. The Hordettes won in three sets to move within one win of their sixth slam final together (they've won two). They lost the '15 Wimbledon championship match to Hingis and Sania Mirza.

Elsewhere, two teams will face off in the other upcoming semi to see which will get the chance to try to become first-time slam winners in the final.

Best career performances for both Monica Niculescu & Angel Chan - SF @Wimbledon: https://t.co/YVWpnPAz20 pic.twitter.com/Rps7X2P5bI

— tenisite (@Tenisiteinfo) July 12, 2017

In the spot in the draw vacated by top-seeded Mattek-Sands/Safarova, Chan Hao-Ching & Monica Niculescu have emerged, defeating the upstart teenage pair of Bellis/Vondrousova in today's QF. Neither Chan nor Niculescu have won a slam title, with Chan the only of the pair to have reached a major final ('15 Wimbledon MX w/ Max Mirnyi). Chan won the Taiwan Open doubles earlier this year with her older sister Yung-Jan, who reached the the '09 Stanford final with Niculescu, losing to Venus & Serena.

H.Chan/Niculescu will next face Day 9's other QF winners, Makota Ninomiya & Renata Voracova, ten years apart in age at 23 and 33, respectively. They'll both be attempting to reach their first slam final of any kind. Voracova won the Roland Garros girls doubles with fellow Czech Petra Cetkovska back in 2001, but her most recent tour-level pro title was in 2014. She's won 56 ITF doubles crowns, though. Japan's Ninomiya has 19 of those herself, as well as one WTA title, having won in Tokyo last season with Shuka Aoyama. They pulled off the upset of Kuznetsova/Mladenovic today.

Ninomiya and Voracova have upset Mladenovic and Kuznetsova to enter Wimbledon SF.

They will face H-C Chan and Niculescu. pic.twitter.com/X8grwY541B

— Ashish Jena (@ashishjena94) July 12, 2017

...mixed competition has seen the last four majors produce first-time slam-winning women, starting with Heather Watson (w/ Henri Kontinen) at last year's Wimbledon, and followed by Laura Siegemund (w/ Mate Pavic), Abigail Spears (w/ J.S. Cabal) and Gaby Dabrowski (w/ Rohan Bopanna).

The injured Siegemund wasn't in London, and Spears/Cabal lost today to Lyudmyla Kichenok & Pavic. Watson/Kontinen are still alive for a title defense, though, defeating Mirza & Ivan Dodig today, while Dabrowski/Bopanna remain in contention for a second slam in a row after they also advanced to the QF.

Vesnina, a winner today with Bruno Soares, is the only woman still alive on both the WD and MX. Makarova (w/ Mirnyi) lost to the wild card British duo of Jocelyn Rae & Ken Skupski today in 9-7 3rd set in the last match to be completed.

...the junior singles continues to be a Bannerette party. Five U.S. girls (as well as a former one) advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, including the Top 3 seeds in the competition.

#1 Kayla Day ('16 U.S. Open girls champ) had a busy day, finishing up her 2nd Round singles match, as well as winning her 3rd Rounder and opening round match in doubles. She took out #15-seeded Indian Zeel Desai to reach the final eight, where she's joined by a band of USTAers that include #2 Whitney Osuigwe (RG champ, who defeated Katie Swan today in the only three-setter in the bunch), #3 Claire Liu (Roehampton W), #14 Sofia Sewing (def. the only Bannerette to fall, Ellie Douglas) and unseeded Ann Li (def. Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska). Canada's #6-seeded Carson Branstine, the winner of back-to-back jr. doubles slams who was still representing the U.S. as recently as Melbourne, is also still in the running. Playing GD with Marta Kostyuk in London, after winning AO/RG titles with Bianca Andreescu, Branstine also won her 1st Round match there on Day 9.

They're all joined by two unseeded girls, Swiss Simona Waltert (so at least one Simona still has title hopes at SW19) and Hordette Sofya Lansere, who is looking to become the third straight Russian winner (after Sofya Zhuk and Anastasia Potapova).

If both Osuigwe and Liu win in the next round, the RG finalists will face off again in a Wimbledon semifinal. And with so many U.S. juniors still around, the chances for a second consecutive all-Bannerette slam girls final are pretty healthy at this point. The last time that happened at back-to-back majors was 1979, at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.


YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT ON DAY 9:

Great to see Johanna Konta make the semi-finals at #wimbledon first British woman in 39 years. I never quite made it to a Grand Slam! pic.twitter.com/o9JS8loTqX

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) July 12, 2017

BUT IF YOU TRY SOMETIMES ON DAY 9:

"This is like a dream for me."

Magdalena Rybarikova on her fairytale #Wimbledon run pic.twitter.com/kh1mX5iEdb

— WTA (@WTA) July 12, 2017

WELL, YOU MIGHT FIND YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED ON DAY 9:

The Konta v Halep match peaked at 7.15m last night. That's higher than the Murray v Paire match, and higher than Nadal v Muller. #Wimbledon

— Richard Osman (@richardosman) July 12, 2017

But, but, but... the Internet told me "nobody watches women's tennis!" ?????? https://t.co/8NZTOsAHbF

— Victoria Chiesa (@vrcsports) July 12, 2017

...and, finally...

Q: "Andy, Sam is the first American player to reach the semi-final of a Slam since 2009..."

Murray: "Male player."

— Svenja Mastroberardi (@svenja_mastro) July 12, 2017

Thank you, Sir @andy_murray ???????????? https://t.co/Ixn2EV40u1

— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) July 12, 2017

That's my boy. ?? https://t.co/ldZUQ2wbZj

— judy murray (@JudyMurray) July 12, 2017

=LADIES' SINGLES SF=
#14 Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK
#10 Venus Williams/USA vs. #6 Johanna Konta/GBR

=LADIES' DOUBLES SF=
#9 H.Chan/Niculescu (TPE/ROU) vs. Ninomiya/Voracova (JPN/CZE)
#12 Groenefeld/Peschke (GER/CZE) vs. #2 Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS)

=MIXED DOUBLES QF=
#1 Hingis/J.Murray (SUI/GBR) vs. (WC) Rae/Skupski (GBR/GBR)
Martinez-Sanchez/Demoliner (ESP/BRA) vs. L.Kichenok/Pavic (UKR/CRO)
#10 Dabrowski/Bopanna (CAN/IND) vs. Watson/Kontinen (GBR/FIN)
Melichar/Begemann (USA/GER) vs. #2 Vesnina/Soares (RUS/BRA)

=GIRLS SINGLES QF=
#1 Kayla Day/USA vs. Ann Li/USA
#14 Sofia Sewing/USA vs. Simona Waltert/SUI
#6 Carson Branstine/CAN vs. #3 Claire Liu/USA
Sofya Lansere/RUS vs. #2 Whitney Osuigwe/USA

=LADIES WHEELCHAIR SINGLES QF=
#1 Jiske Griffioen/NED vs. Aniek Van Koot/NED
Jordanne Whiley/GBR vs. Deide De Groot/NED
Marjolein Buis/NED vs. Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
Lucy Shuker/GBR vs. #2 Yui Kamiji/JPN

=LADIES WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SF=
#1 Griffioen/Van Koot (NED/NED) vs. Kamiji/Whiley (JPN/GBR)
Ellerbrock/Shuker (GER/GBR) vs. #2 Buis/De Groot (NED/NED)





*2017 GIRLS SLAM QF*
2...Elena Rybakina, RUS (2-0)
2...CLAIRE LIU, USA (1-0)*
2...WHITNEY OSUIGWE, USA (1-0)*
2...Bianca Andreescu, CAN (1-1)
1...Marta Kostyuk, UKR (1-0)
1...Rebeka Masarova, SUI (1-0)
1...Marta Paigina, RUS (1-0)
1...CARSON BRANSTINE, CAN (0-0)*
1...KAYLA DAY, USA (0-0)*
1...SOFYA LANSERE, RUS (0-0)*
1...ANN LI, USA (0-0)*
1...SOFIA SEWING, USA (0-0)*
1...SIMONA WALTERT, SUI (0-0)*
1...Amanda Anisimova, USA (0-1)
1...Emily Appleton, GBR (0-1)
1...Zeel Desai, IND (0-1)
1...Mai Hontama, JPN (0-1)
1...Liang En-shuo, TPE (0-1)
1...Caty McNally, USA (0-1)
1...Iga Swiatek, POL (0-1)
*[nations]
9 - USA (2-2 + 5 Wimbledon)
4 - RUS (3-0 + 1 Wimbledon)
3 - CAN (1-1 + 1 Wimbledon)
2 - SUI (1-0 + 1 Wimbledon)
1 - UKR (1-0)
1 - GBR (0-1)
1 - IND (0-1)
1 - JPN (0-1)
1 - POL (0-1)
1 - TPE (0-1)

*2017 SLAM DOUBLES SF - duos*
2...Mattek-Sands/Safarova, USA/CZE (2-0)
1...Barty/Dellacqua, AUS/AUS (1-0)
1...Hlavackova/Peng, CZE/CHN (1-0)
1...H.Chan/Niculescu, TPE/ROU (0-0)*
1...Groenefeld/Peshke, GER/CZE (0-0)*
1...Makarova/Vesnina, RUS/RUS (0-0)*
1...Ninomiya/Vorcova, JPN/CZE (0-0)*
1...Y.Chan/Hingis, TPE/SUI (0-1)
1...Garcia/Mladenovic, FRA/FRA (0-1)
1...Hozumi/Kato, JPN/JPN (0-1)
1...Hradecka/Siniakova, CZE/CZE (0-1)

*WIMBLEDON "ZOMBIE QUEEN" WINNERS*
2007 Venus Williams, USA
2008 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
2009 Dinara Safina, RUS
2010 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 Marion Bartoli, FRA
2012 Tamira Paszek, AUT
2013 Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
2014 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS & Lucie Safarova/CZE
2015 Serena Williams, USA
2016 Dominika Cibulkova/SVK & Aga Radwanska/POL
2017 Arina Rodionova, AUS



TOP QUALIFIER: Petra Martic/CRO
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #6 Johanna Konta/GBR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #14 Garbine Muguruza/ESP
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Petra Martic/CRO def. #1q Aleksandra Krunic/SRB 3-6/7-6(4)/7-5 (saved 6 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #6 Johanna Konta/GBR def. Donna Vekic/CRO 7-6(4)/4-6/10-8 (3:10; nearly 100 total winners)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #15 Garbine Muguruza/ESP def. #1 Angelique Kerber/GER 4-6/6-4/6-4
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Wang Qiang/CHN (def. K.Chang/TPE)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Roberta Vinci/ITA (1st Rd. - lost to Kr.Pliskova/CZE)
UPSET QUEENS: USA
REVELATION LADIES: GBR (two women -- Konta & Watson -- in 3rd Rd. for first time since '86; WC Boulter played well vs. McHale)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: CZE (0-6 2nd Rd., including"co-favorites" Kvitova & Ka.Pliskova w/ two other seeds; first time no Czechs in Wimb. 3r since '09, second time since '04)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Petra Martic/CRO (4th Rd.)
LAST WILD CARDS STANDING: Heather Watson/GBR and Zarina Diyas/KAZ (3rd Rd.)
LAST BRIT STANDING: Johanna Konta (in SF, best British result since 1978)
IT ("??"): Nominees: Konta ("Brit"), Kamiji ("WC Career Slam Winner?")
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK
COMEBACK: Victoria Azarenka/BLR
CRASH & BURN: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS (1st Rd. loss to Ar.Rodionova after having 7 MP, one year after Wimb. QF and "Career QF Slam" completed at this year's AO; won two titles '17)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Arina Rodionova/AUS (1st Rd. - qualifier saved 7 MP vs. Pavlyuchenkova; won 9-7 3rd for first career GS MD win; lost 2nd Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR(s): x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Venus Williams/USA (37 - oldest semifinalist since 1994)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
THE RADWANSKA DAY REMEMBRANCE AWARD
June 26 official: Eastbourne DC Dominika Cibulkova loses opening match to WC Heather Watson; 4 LL's win MD matches (one LL vs. LL match-up); LL Tsvetana Pironkova advances to 2nd Rd. w/ 1st Rd. bye when Petra Kvitova withdraws, gets 2nd Rd. win
Day 3 observed: On "Flying Ant Day," newly-emerged insects swarm the AELTC grounds. Meanwhile, six women's seed fall, including two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
"Alternate" Rad Day (Day 4): In muggy conditions, four women's seeds (and four men's) fall, including "favorite" #3 Karolina Pliskova, as no Czech woman reach the 3rd Round for the first time in eight years. Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffers a devastating knee injury. Aga Radwanska saves two MP vs. Christina McHale to advance.




All for Day 9. More tomorrow.